Johnson Has Mostly Himself To Blame For This Year's Rocky Budget Process - Chicago Sun-Times

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Mayor Brandon Johnson largely has himself to blame for his last-minute decision to cancel a vote set for Friday on his 2025 city budget.

• A 14% approval rating that has emboldened his opponents and sent his own allies running for cover.

• A two-week budget delay that put alderpersons behind the eight ball after his first budget was balanced with one-time revenues.

• An inexperienced mayor who calls himself "collaborator-in-chief" but has, too often, kept the City Council in the dark while making up parliamentary rules as he goes along.

"It really comes down to trust. Chicago doesn't trust the mayor today and alders are feeling that when they go back to their wards," said Southwest Side Ald. Marty Quinn (13th).

"This is a career-defining vote. ... If they intend to vote `yes' and haven't supplied constituents with a 'why' and can justify it, they will have allowed their residents to finish the sentence. You voted for a property tax increase because what?"

That $68.5 million property tax increase is among a slew of tax hikes making the mayor's $17.3 billion budget hard for some alderpersons to swallow.

The deep distrust between the mayor and the Council was on display this week when Johnson tried to lock down the budget votes of two leadership team members — Police Committee Chair Chris Taliaferro (29th) and Housing Chair Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) — by adding a combined $80,000 to their committee budgets.

OSU Rescinds Pay Raises After Court Overturns Biden Overtime Rule: Will Other Employers Follow?

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Dec. 13—Ohio State University recently rescinded pay raises for 306 employees after a federal court decision in November overturned a new federal rule making more people eligible for overtime pay.

Two Dayton region experts that advise businesses say they don't know of any local employers who raised wages to avoid the overtime pay requirement and then rescinded the pay increases after the court ruling.

⁘I am pleased to say I have not heard of anyone acting in advance of this ruling and then having to 'back-pedal.' Our recommendation was to plan for it but not take any action until the date of the change in the event that it was repealed,⁘ said Patti Dunham, Cincinnati-based director of business strategy and quality at Clark Schaefer Strategic HR.

⁘Such an action would most likely lead to a negative response and impact on employee morale that just didn't seem worth it to most — especially with the consideration that some variation of the changes may come down the line after all of the appeals, as it did in 2020,⁘ she said.

The impacted Ohio State employees, who are non-union workers in various jobs at the university including in the Wexner Medical Center and Department of Athletics, were notified they were getting a raise before the rule was struck down, said Ben Johnson, spokesman for Ohio State University.

Johnson said the employees will receive the increased salary for November and December and then revert to their previous salary in January. Had the pay increases remained in place they would have cost the university $2,047,000 annually, Johnson said.

Changing Regulations To Blame For Skills Shortage, Say Construction Professionals | Specification...

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Headlines:

• **New Zealand's Construction Industry Heavily Hitters the Bricks Due to Labour Shortage

** (BusinessNZ): The New Zealand construction industry is experiencing a severe labor shortage, resulting in increased prices and delayed projects. The government is implementing new regulations to address the issue. • **UK's Construction Industry Reaches Crisis Point as Plumber Shortage Deepens

** (The Guardian): A severe shortage of plumbers and pipeline workers in the UK has led to increased wages and availability of services, prompting new regulations to ensure the industry's long-term sustainability. • **Canada's Skilled Trades Shortage to Finish Off a Challenging COVID-19 Undowned Impact

** (The Globe and Mail): The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing skill shortages in Canada's skilled trades, including electricians and plumbers... leading to new regulations to address the issue. • **Global Skills Gap Hinders Infrastructure Development Efforts

** (The Economist): A lack of skilled workers in countries like the US, Australia, and Japan is hindering infrastructure development, prompting governments to implement new regulations to address the issue. • **European Union's New Apprenticeship Program Aims to Fill Construction Skills Gap

** (EU News): The European Union has launched a new apprenticeship program to increase the number of skilled construction workers... aiming to address the region's significant skills shortage. • **Australia's Construction Industry Struggles to Recruit Coastal Pregnancy, Climate Change Hofted

** (ABC News): A severe shortage of skilled workers has led to increased costs and delays in coastal construction projects in Australia, prompting the government to review labor regulations. • **India's Construction Industry Tangled Up with a Labour Shortage and a Lack of Trained Staff

** (Deccan Herald): The Indian construction industry is grappling with a shortage of skilled workers and a lack of training programs, making it challenging to meet growing demand. • **China's Construction Industry Adapts to New Regulations Amid Growing Skills Shortage

** (South China Morning Post): New regulations in China aim to address the country's severe labor shortages in the construction industry, "ensuring a steady supply of skilled workers." • **Canada's New Graduate Internship Program Hopes to Densify the Construction Industry

** (Financial Post): The Canadian government has launched a new graduate internship program to fill the skills gap in the construction industry, "offering students work experience and training opportunities."

#news

Almost three quarters (72%) of construction workers claim that the changing regulatory landscape is one of the biggest causes of the industry's skills shortage, according to new research.

The findings come as the 2024 UK Trade Skills Index recently revealed that the UK construction sector is short of 700,000 staff and that 350,000 new apprentices are needed in order to deliver the Government's housing and net zero targets.

The research of 200 construction professionals conducted by Siniat, the UK's leading lightweight construction manufacturer, also found that 67.5% believe that current skills in the sector are out-dated when considering new regulations and government targets.

The impact of changing regulations and incoming legislation is especially prevalent in medium sized firms (250-500 employees) with 81% citing this as the main reason for the skill shortage in construction.

However, 61% of respondents said that upskilling and re-skilling existing talent would help to ensure a competent workforce which would, in turn, help to plug the skills gap.

Siniat's Head of Marketing, Andy Mudie, added: "As the industry adjusts to the huge changes implemented under the Building Safety Act last year, it is no secret that the industry is under major pressure to increase standards of building both in terms of performance and sustainability.

"And, with ambitious government targets intending to get Britain building at scale – it's undeniable that we need to increase skills and competence in the sector.

Now You Can Avoid Taxes Like The Rich And Famous

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Headlines:

This is the time of year when legal ways to avoid paying income tax are top of mind. Income taxes are levied on interest from bonds and bank deposits, as well as on preferred dividends and the sale of investments for a gain. Qualified dividends and long-term capital gains get a lower rate. Even if you receive cash from your fund and invest it right back, you owe the taxman.

The second approach is to defer tax payments as much as possible, allowing money to compound for longer. It is a crucial reason why the highest-income households often pay less tax than middle-class ones, according to the Tax Policy Center.

To invest in the S⁘P 500, for example, the rich might eschew mutual funds and use direct indexing—that is, owning the stocks in the index individually so the underperforming ones can be disposed of even if the market does well. Parametric Portfolio Associates pioneered this strategy in the 1990s.

Still, stocks tend to go up, so eventually there are no losers to sell. For a few years now, quantitative-investment shops such as AQR Capital Management and Quantinno Capital Management have offered better, more complex products that combine long and short bets on stocks.

Traditionally, it only made sense to dabble in such products if you had savings in the many millions of dollars. But tax-optimizing solutions are booming as a wave of innovations reduce barriers to entry.

#news

This NYC Tech Startup Aims To Fix Private Equity's Accounting Mess

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S itting beneath the $15 trillion that global investors have sunk into private capital, a burgeoning pool of investments that covers everything from private equity and private credit to venture capital and real estate funds , is a mind-numbing accounting problem. Investment firms make countless bespoke deals with their deep-pocketed clients, creating the need for highly complex, custom calculations to figure out the investment firms' management fees and who will reap what share of the profits.

"It doesn't matter if you manage $50 million or $250 billion across venture capital, real estate or private equity. All of this is managed in Excel," says Ross Mechanic, the 30-year-old cofounder and CEO of fintech company Maybern. His three-year-old, 32-person New York startup uses software to automate the gnarly calculations, aiming to save accounting teams time, improve their accuracy and help them produce reports faster. Mechanic also plans to expand beyond accounting to help private equity firms make strategic decisions on when they should sell an asset.

In May 2024, Maybern raised $14 million in funding led by Primary Ventures at an $80 million valuation. It has raised $26 million since its 2021 start.

There's a growing need for software serving this space. The private capital market has nearly doubled in size over the past five years, but the technical infrastructure supporting it hasn't kept up. "Software tools exist for them, but they're monumentally behind," says Emily Man, a partner at Primary Ventures who led the firm's recent Maybern investment. And a severe shortage of accountants has made the problem much worse.

"We had a five-person team checking those numbers, and we were finding errors every quarter. It was insane to me, especially as an engineer, that we had a billion and a half under management and it was all happening in Excel." Today, Mechanic estimates that 95% of these calculations are still done in Excel, even at the largest private equity funds.

How To Budget In Your 30s – 6 Tips To Manage Your Money

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Headlines:

As such, it's also a time when the budgeting methods that worked in your 20s may need adjusting to align with evolving priorities. There should be a balance between short-term goals, for example, paying off credit card debt , and long-term objectives, such as growing your investments. You may consider revisiting popular budgeting methods such as the 50/30/20 rule or the envelope system, or adapting an approach like the zero-based or priority-based budgeting to fit your changing lifestyle.

If it's possible, aim to save more. You can automate savings into a separate, easily accessible account to make it simpler. The goal is to build a cushion that allows you to focus on long-term financial growth without constantly worrying about immediate financial pressures.

The more you contribute to your emergency fund, the more you free up your resources to focus on other wealth-building activities. If you've been using credit cards or loans as a backup in times of crisis, shifting to an emergency fund strategy will reduce your dependence on high-interest debt, creating a more stable financial future.

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A New Overtime Rule Has Been Stayed By A Federal Court. What Should Employers Do?

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Under the old regulations, salaried employees who earned more than $35,568 annually were not entitled to overtime pay when they worked more than 40 hours per week. That compensation level was lifted to $43,888 on July 1, and was scheduled to increase again to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025. The U.S. Department of Labor estimated that "millions of workers" would be entitled to additional pay .

But that outlook now looks less likely. In November, a Texas federal court found the new overtime rule "exceeds the Department of Labor's authority." Last week the Department appealed the decision , but as of now the overtime rule is suspended.

"We need to continue to monitor the situation," said Tammy Tyler, manager of employment law compliance risk at Paychex , a payroll processing company. "The new administration could withdraw the appeal and — depending on who heads the Department of Labor — possibly undergo rulemaking to draft a new overtime rule."

If you're running a business, this creates a lot of uncertainty. Do you comply with the new rule, even though it's still up in the air? Or do you revert your overtime pay policy?

» READ MORE: Low salary and no overtime: Two Philly-area workers reflect on proposed labor rule change

If you've been waiting for the outcome of this case and the presidential election before making any changes to your overtime pay policy then one option is to continue with the same policy that was in effect before July 1.

But if you've already taken steps to comply with the July 1 increase then you can roll these changes back. However, this means removing potential extra pay from employees, which could create resentment. Walking back a previously announced benefit is never popular.

What You Should Know About The Latest MiCA Regulations Coming December

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Brace yourselves: more regulations are coming to an EU territory near you. The latest phase of MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) kicks in from December, and while the industry has had plenty of time to prepare, their passage will nevertheless necessitate some changes in the way crypto business is done.

For CASPs in particular – that's Crypto Asset Service Providers – the next phase of the EU-wide regulations must be followed closely. They introduce rules concerning token issuing, enhanced AML requirements, and require all CASPs operating in the EU to have full authorization. Here's what you need to know, whether you're a crypto company or crypto user based in the EU.

It can be hard keeping pace with the flurry of regulations being flung at the industry. No sooner have participants gotten acquainted with one set of rules than another comes along demanding to be mastered. MiCA has been a long time in the making, and while some in the industry have reservations towards its design in entirety, it's nevertheless been accepted by the crypto companies that are obliged to accede to it.

The first phase of the EU crypto legislation commenced in June, but its final form will become manifest in December. The biggest change being introduced is that all CASPs will need to be authorized to operate within the EU including meeting strict security, governance, and compliance requirements. While this places an additional burden on crypto companies, they've had plenty of time to prepare and it's hard to find fault with the intent behind this legislation .

The most controversial aspect of MiCA concerns stablecoins. The regulations that came into effect at the end of June placed a limit on stablecoin volumes permitted over a fixed period. It's clearly an attempt at reducing crypto's ability to supplant the Euro, particularly given the fact that most stablecoins are USD pegged.

But things are going to get even more complicated for stablecoin issuers come December, who will be obliged to possess an e-money authorization in at least one EU member state. This is evident by Circle obtaining an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from the French regulatory authority, allowing it to issue USDC and EURC and serve customers in Europe. While Circle has the resources to pursue this compliance requirement, the same cannot be said for smaller stablecoin issuers. Aside from the inconvenience this presents for issuers and for EU exchanges that list these assets, it sets a worrying precedent. What's to prevent the EU from enforcing a similar mandate on all tokens that aren't "sufficiently decentralized"?

Why So Many Americans Are Dissatisfied With The Seemingly Solid Economy

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Headlines:

Here are 10 current news headlines that reflect global dissatisfaction with economic conditions, categorized similarly: * **General Discontent** + "European Youth Everywhere 52% Would Like to --- in a Different Country Due to Economic Concerns" (Eurobarometer, 2022) + "Global survey finds 60% of Americans say their economic prospects are poor" (YouGov, 2022)

* **Income Inequality** + "World's richest 1% control more than 38% of global wealth, Oxfam reports" (Oxfam International, 2022) + "USrent burdenssignal rising dissatisfaction among Americans" (NBC News, 2022)

* **Cost of ---** + "Global cost of ---: US cities among least affordable in world" (The Economist, 2022) + "US inflation hits 40-year high, topping 9% in January" (Yale News, 2022)

* **Job insecurity** + "Growing number of Americans are struggling to make ends meet" (CNN... 2022) + "Global unemployment rate holds steady at 5. 6%, but increases in Europe" (ILO... 2022) I hope these headlines meet your requirements!

#news

Let's take a closer look now at this disconnect between what are solid economic numbers and the way many people say they feel about this economy.

Our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, reports now from Ohio on how many Americans see this in the wake of the election.

It's really the most dramatically successful recovery the United States has possibly ever seen from the kind of shock that we saw in 2020, but it doesn't translate down to a simple experience of well-being for very large numbers of people.

Some of the rhetoric that came out to Black people and minorities, like, this is your chance to vote for the first Black woman. And, to me, it was like, that is not my number one issue. How are you going to make things better for my family? It was about affordability of food, of gas, of heating, energy.

Your Tax Guide To Holiday Office Parties

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Headlines:

As the winter season approaches your employer may want to hold the annual office party. But what does that mean to your taxes? Winning the yearly costume contest may come with a hidden cost. Or, you could be subject to withholding on the annual door prize.

We⁘ll look at holiday work parties from the employee perspective to see how much tax you could be paying out of your paycheck ⁘ unknowingly.

First, let⁘s explore tax-free employer presents. These gifts are generally not taxed if they are deemed ⁘de minimis,⁘ which means:

Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.

The IRS hasn⁘t set a strict dollar amount for ⁘low in cost,⁘ though anything over $100 isn⁘t considered meeting the definition. Entertainment tickets could be de minimis if they are less than $100 and used infrequently.

For example, if your company has a raffle ticket to see ⁘The Nutcracker,⁘ that may be de minimis. The ticket can only be used infrequently and for something specific (i.e. the night of the ballet).

However, if the office raffle is for a season pass to the theater, that would be taxable because there is frequent use. Or, if the ticket is worth more than $100, that would also be taxable.

As you can see from the above examples, ⁘de minimis⁘ may be quite limited. What⁘s worse, we haven⁘t yet covered the most popular present given: gift cards.

Employers withhold Social Security tax and other payroll taxes on many gifts you receive ⁘ and yes, that includes the occasional gift card.

#news

Best Accounting Software Services For Small Businesses

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When you find the right accounting software for your small business, everything seems to click into place. Managing invoices goes from a headache to a routine task. Detailed income and expense reports show you a clear path to success. Tax time no longer has you chugging bottles of antacid while you scramble to find your records. But how do you figure out what software works best for you and your business?

That's where we come in — CNBC Select rounded up some of the best accounting software for small businesses. We ranked them for affordability, add-ons, most comprehensive service, simplicity and free plan offerings. See more on our methodology below.

Who's this for? Xero is one of the more affordable accounting options on the market with paid plans — the most basic plan (called the Early plan) costs just $15 per month. The brand usually offers a 50% discount for the first three months, which lowers the cost even more. Xero's most basic plan lets you send up to 20 invoices and quotes per month, use receipt capturing, manage W-9 and 1099 payments, auto-calculate sales tax and more.

Standout benefits: Xero has features to help your business predict future cash flow, which is included in the Established plan. Though this is Xero's most expensive plan, it still costs under $100 per month.

Extremely easy to get started; Lite plan offers a lot of features; it's easy to upload receipts (including mileage) and create invoices. App offers time tracing. Very mobile friendly interface.

FreshBooks utilizes a 256-bit SSL encryption. The program collects a minimal amount of personally identifiable information, and if your information is ever lost, it's backed up in multiple databases so you can retrieve it again.